IN THE WORDS OF JESUS–Part 598

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

ON LOVE; PART CLXXXVII

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

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We ended yesterday in a discussion on desire which is framed in the New Testament as lust; both of which mean the same thing from the perspective of the man seeking spiritual development especially in this day where there is so much to want for in man’s effort to give himself all the comforts and pleasures that he thinks he deserves and believes he needs. In modern language and in some Christian interpretation there is a perceived difference between lust and desire however and one that takes a mans attention away from the ideas that we put forth yesterday regarding the ways of the Master and His apostles as they tell us that we should look to the things of God not the things of mammon, the things of the world. In telling us what treasure we should choose the Master is giving instruction on resisting the desire for the things of the world; in telling us to choose between God and mammon, He is doing the same; He is telling us that we can only be true to one, that we can only have one for our purpose. These ideas are however missed by the world that believes that their very success in  Life is entwined with the things of the world and the accumulation of those things and this does of course extend far beyond the material possessions and into the more subtle realms of family and feelings…..all things carnal. The True epitome of this teaching is found in the Master’s teaching on “take no thought” ((Luke 12:22, Matthew 6:25) which we understand as just that, do not attend to the things of the world and in this is included no worry nor concern about them but there is also the larger course of no attention, no thought, and, of course, no desire. This is, like the idea of lust, misconstrued in some doctrine and teaching; “take no thought” is made to refer only to worry and concern and lust, as we discussed, is made to mean only those gross desires and mostly in relation to sex.

Looking at how this is rendered in the various translations of the bible gives us some insight. Our verse from the last post can serve as our example:

• “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24) is the rendition from the King James Version (KJV). Here we should look also at the word that is rendered as affections which is the Greek word pathema and of which Vincent tells us: Affections (paqhmasin). Better, passions. Often sufferings, as Romans viii. 18; 2 Cor. i. 5, 6, 7; Philip. iii. 10; Heb. ii. 9. Often of Christ’s sufferings. Comp. passions of sins, Rom. vii. 5 (see on motions). o LXX, where we find paqov in both senses, but mostly sufferings. Paqov also in N.T., but rarely and P o . See Rom. i. 26; Col. iii. 5; 1 Thessalonians iv. 5: always of evil desires ⁴. We should see here that this word has little to do with affection as we would see them in connection to desires but it is rather used by Paul as reference to suffering. We can view this as that suffering may be endured by turning away from the world or the suffering one may be subjected to by persecution and we see the former rather than the latter.
  
• “And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof“; American Standard Version, (ASV). Here as Vincent suggests the word is word pathema is rendered as passion and then added to lust and in this sense they have nearly the same meaning but this is not the likely intent of the apostle who uses this word as suffering and not the type of passions alluded to in connection with lust. This from the lexicon definitions of pathema will serve to show our point here as they say that this means: that which one suffers or has suffered; externally, a suffering, misfortune, calamity, evil, affliction; of the sufferings of Christ; also the afflictions which Christians must undergo in behalf of the same cause which Christ patiently endured; of an inward state, an affliction, passion; an enduring, undergoing, suffering ². Can we see the point here?
• “And those who are Christ’s have put to death on the cross the flesh with its passions and its evil desires“; Bible in Basic English, (BBE). Here we find an arbitrary rendering of the Greek word epithumia which is generally seen as lust translated as “evil desires” as this is but the translators understanding of the word lust. Here again is the relationship between passions and lust or “evil desires” which is not in our view the intent of the apostle. The lexicon tells us on this Greek word epithumia that it means: desire, craving, longing, desire for what is forbidden, lust ² and here we should view the idea of forbidden as in addition to the other meanings and not in place of them as this is oft understood.   
  
• “And they that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences“; Douay-Rheims, (RHE). This version is the first authorized Catholic translation and here we find a strange combination of words as they are taken from the Latin Vulgate. This Latin text is likely one of the influences for the other renditions that see this word as affections and passions as related to lust. A more recent Catholic version, the Knox Translation, renders this verse as “those who belong to Christ have crucified nature, with all its passions, all its impulses“** and in this we get the idea from impulse that the references is to the bodily appetites and to sex and in the idea of passions we find a similar understanding as we see above. In the former version, the RHE, the word concupiscences means sexual desire; lust. ardent, usually sensuous, longing ⁷. 
• The Message Bible (MSG) uses a ‘thought for thought’ translation technique. In these type of translations however one is subjected to the doctrinal beliefs of the translator who, in this case and in this verse, is giving us the same understanding that we are trying to get across. This verse is rendered in the MSG as “Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good – crucified“. Can we see in this the reality of our understanding of lust as desires and the idea of sufferings is taken up in the attitude of it all; the attitude of self. This may not be how we do see the total saying nor how we would want to view this idea of sufferings but this does take us to where we are intending to go insofar as lust and desire are concerned.

We should see here again the difficulty that one faces in the use of language and of the translation of the thought expressed in one language into the available words of another. We should see as well the way that the individual translations differ which leads to the denominational differences on a wide variety of issues.

When the view of words such as lust are convoluted by the varying doctrines of the churches it is difficult for a man to see the reality of the Master’s teachings and to realize the true import of the words used and the intended message. The Master clearly speaks out about desire from His perspective on treasure and on God and mammon that we discussed in the last post and here above and the apostle is yet more pointed in their amplification of the Master’s words. These are however but two of the teachings that the Master gives us and we should see the reality of His words, especially to the aspirant and the disciple to whom He tells that they must forsake ALL. If this total forsaking is the requirement of the disciple then surely one’s ability to curb desire should be the teaching of the churches to the masses; unfortunately this is not True. We can see this in the world today; among the fastest growing parts of the church are those that teach prosperity doctrines which, from our perspective, are seen as the polar opposite of the Master’s True teachings. We must remember here that like the Pharisee and the scribe and the lawyer that we discussed in the last posts, those who teach these things have a basic belief that they are keeping the words of the Master and this is of course the result of Life in the world and the glamour and illusion into which man is cast.

For one who is serious about any spiritual pursuits, and the reality IS that there IS ONLY ONE, there must be a basic understanding of the role of desire or lust in one’s Life. Carrying this to the Master’s words we could look at a man who has his focus and his attention on the luxuries of Life, the big car, the big house and the big entertainment budget for himself and his family. This man will likely spend the majority of his time working towards his goals ever seeking a better job and better pay so that he can ‘afford’ these luxuries. This is then his treasure and his focus and there is little opportunity for True spiritual pursuits. The Master tells him that he “cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13) and that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). The man in this state is serving mammon and his treasure is of the things of the world. Now it matters not at what level these things are occurring as one’s sense of riches is relative to the ‘world’ he lives in; the big car is not necessarily one that is large but rather one that is big in the eyes of the beholder; for one this may be a Bentley and for another a properly equipped Ford or Chevy. The same is True regarding the big house which for one may be the multi-million dollar mansion while for another it is a small apartment in the right neighborhood. What matters in our example is that these become the focus of one’s attention, these are what matters and there are countless variables that can be inserted into this. 

This is the message of the Master, that one must focus upon the things of God if he is desirous of spiritual progression and that ALL that takes his attention away from these things IS sin, can be evil and is the product of desires and lusts for the things that the world offers and, again, these things DO NOT have to be possessions or wealth; they could be position or stature or reputation or the love of others. These ideas are difficult to hear and they are for many difficult to accept; this is the reality behind the Parable of the Rich Young Man who cannot give up what he has and this is because he does not understand the reality of Life and the Way of the Kingdom. This is also the point behind the Parable of the Rich Fool who spends his focus and attention on possessions and the comforts of Life and believing that he has done well, is told by the Lord, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?“. There is a moral to this story giveen to us by the Master as well and one that is not seen in the Light that it is offered; referring to the fate of this man that we see here Jesus says: “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:20-21). Here we may think that this attitude of the Rich Fool is acceptable so long as one gives or IS “rich toward God” but from other sayings we KNOW that this is not True….remember that “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

Remembering that the translated words do not always properly describe the intent of a passage as we may understand them, let us look as some sayings on desire and lust from other religious text:

• Facing sense-objects a person develops attachment for those objects. From that attachment desire develops and from that desire anger [the drift of passion] arises.  From anger [losing one’s order] one gets illusioned and from illusion the memory gets bewildered. With the memory disturbed one loses one’s intelligence and from that loss of intelligence one falls down. But one who has become free from attachment and aversion, having the senses acting upon the sense-objects under control, will, regulating himself thus, attain the clarity. From that tranquility all misery will find its end and of such a happy mind soon the intuition will become sufficiently established (Bhagavad~Gita 2:62-65). The perspective of this writing is such that one should understand that in the idea of memory above IS that sense of KNOWING one’s True nature which is lost in the labyrinth of desire. Similarly we should see the idea of intelligence as we would consider that Wisdom from above that comes to a man as a part of that KNOWING.
• Arjuna said: ‘Then by what is a man impelled to sin even if he doesn’t want to, o descendant of Vrishni [Krishna’s family name], as if engaged by force?’ The Supreme Lord said: ‘It is lust, it is anger born from the mode of passion which is the all-devouring greatly sinful; know this here to be your greatest enemy. Just like smoke covering a fire, a mirror covered with dust and a womb enclosing an embryo, so similarly by this lust this [knowing] is covered. The knowing of the knower, covered by this eternal enemy in the form of [the unregulated] desire, o son of Kuntî, is just like fire never satisfied.  The senses, the mind and the intelligence are called the stronghold of this lust which by all these clouds the knowledge in covering the embodied [soul]. Therefore you must, regulating the senses from the beginning, o best among the Bhâratas, curb this drive of sin that is the destroyer of knowledge and wisdom.  The senses are above things one says and more than the senses is the superior [directing] mind. Also above that is the [planning] intelligence – but more than the intelligence is He who is the [controlling transcendent soul] beyond. Thus, superior to the intelligence, knowing from the steadying of the mind, deliberately conquer this enemy which, o mighty armed one, is so formidable in the form of lust‘  (Bhagavad~Gita 3:36-43). In this verse we see the reality of KNOWING and the KNOWER that we see above as memory and which we can likely understand with this saying as the memory of KNOWING. Here we see desire as the enemy though we should try to understand that this idea is in place for the man who seeks enlightenment and spiritual progress; it is against these that desire and lust are the enemy.

• If you sleep, Desire grows in you Like a vine in the forest. Like a monkey in the forest You jump from tree to tree, Never finding the fruit – From life to life, Never finding peace. If you are filled with desire Your sorrows swell Like the grass after the rain. But if you subdue desire Your sorrows shall fall from you Like drops of water from a lotus flower. This is good counsel And it is for everyone: As the grass is cleared for the fresh root, Cut down desire Lest death after death crush you As a river crushes the helpless reeds. For if the roots hold firm, A felled tree grows up again. If desires are not uprooted, Sorrows grow again in you. Thirty-six streams are rushing toward you! Desire and pleasure and lust… Play in your imagination with them And they will sweep you away. Powerful streams! They flow everywhere (Dhammapada; the Sayings of the Buddha, On Desire). Sleep here in this saying should be seen as the opposite of being awakened to the Truth of one’s nature; if one sleeps, he sees only the things of the world; the Buddha’s words depict what is the result of not being awake. His instruction on subduing desire follows and then His reality of what happens when desire is not eliminated but only subdued….it returns.

• In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful. THE DESIRE of increasing riches occupieth you, Till ye come to the grave. Nay! but in the end ye shall know. Nay! once more, in the end ye shall know your folly. Nay! would that ye knew it with knowledge of certainty! Surely ye shall see hell-fire. Then shall ye surely see it with the eye of certainty; Then shall ye on that day be taken to task concerning pleasures. (The Koran Sura 102)†. Here we have an Islamic version of the same ideas that we see from the Master and from the Hindu and Buddhist sayings above. While this saying is concerned with riches and possessions, it should be viewed in similar context to what we see above and in our understanding. Here we should consider what are the riches in the Prophet’s words? are they not like the treasures of Jesus? The same cautions on language and on translation should be noted in relation to the words of the Koran.

As we proceeded through this essay which became about desire, we came to see the unfinished discussion on the relationship between one’s attainment of the Kingdom and becoming a disciple and it is here that we will begin in the next post leaving our chart for yet another day.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment:

Leaving again the Great Invocation, we encourage ALL to read and reread it and our comments as in these words can be found the keys to our spiritual reality.

From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.

From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.

From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men–
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.

From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.

Let Light and Love and Power restore the Plan on Earth.

This prayer is a part of our Prayers and Meditations section and there is much information about it there and in our discussion of it in the Quote of the Day section of In the Words of Jesus parts 128-132

The above Invocation or Prayer does not belong to any person or group but to all Humanity. The beauty and the strength of this Invocation lies in its simplicity, and in its expression of certain central truths which all men, innately and normally, accept—the truth of the existence of a basic Intelligence to Whom we vaguely give the name of God; the truth that behind all outer seeming, the motivating power of the universe is Love; the truth that a great Individuality came to earth, called by Christians, the Christ, and embodied that love so that we could understand; the truth that both love and intelligence are effects of what is called the Will of God; and finally the self-evident truth that only through humanity itself can the Divine Plan work out.

Like the Lord’s Prayer, this invocation is a World Prayer which is as all that a prayer is intended to be. It is a prayer for the uplifting of the Human Family out of the mire of materialism and selfishness. The Lord’s Prayer asks nothing for the individual praying it but asks that its benefits be for US and for WE which is why it was given by the Christ as a prayer and as a model over 2000 years ago. This invocation is also attributed to the Christ who, as He promised, has never left us; He, through channels that we do not readily understand, has Himself instructed His disciples to distribute this prayer and to encourage its use as a world prayer and as an aid in preparing the world for His return.

The first three stanzas of this prayer should be understood as reflecting the effective potencies of the Trinity which is God and which, when brought down to an individual level, the Trinity which is Man. His Will, His Love and His Light we should seen as the Potent Powers of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• * Discipleship in the New Age – Volume II by Alice A Bailey; © 1955 by Lucis Trust
• ** Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese from NewAdvent.org
•  † The Koran/Sura CII — Desire http://www.infoplease.com/t/rel/koran/sura102.html#ixzz2M31xBzaI
• ⁷  Dictionary.com Unabridged based on Random House Dictionary – 2011